“I thought it would be 50 to 100 years. Now I think it’s maybe five to 20 years before we get superintelligence.”

Geoffrey Hinton, 2025

Introduction

Seldon is building the first accelerator focused exclusively on AI assurance and safety startups. While accelerators have proven instrumental in scaling traditional technology companies, the unique challenges and opportunities in AI safety require a fresh approach. We are committed to finding the most effective ways to help founders build companies that make AI systems more secure, controllable, and beneficial for humanity.

Our Development Approach

Rather than following conventional accelerator models, we’re taking a thoughtful, iterative approach to develop a program specifically tailored to AI safety startups. We’re starting with a small pilot cohort where we’ll work closely with carefully selected founding teams to understand their unique needs and challenges.

Learning Together

We recognize that accelerating AI safety companies requires different support structures than traditional startups. Our pilot program will help us discover:

• How to effectively blend technical AI safety expertise with startup acceleration
• What resources and connections matter most for AI assurance companies
• How to measure and maximize both business success and positive impact on AI safety
• Ways to build lasting collaboration between safety-focused startups

Current Focus

We’re working with a small group of founding teams to develop and refine our approach. This includes:

• Providing hands-on support to help validate our acceleration model
• Building relationships with key partners in the AI safety ecosystem
• Developing frameworks to evaluate both commercial and safety impact
• Creating infrastructure and resources specifically for AI assurance startups

What Happens at Seldon

Funding

Seldon funds you with a pre-seed investment on standard terms.

Groups

Startups are organized into focused working groups based on their area of AI assurance:

• Safeguarding (hardware security, privacy, cybersecurity)
• Auditing (evaluation, testing, compliance)
• Governing (oversight, monitoring, incident response)
• Verifying (authentication, control systems)

Each group is led by technical partners with deep expertise in these domains.

Technical Office Hours

Our office hours combine startup guidance with technical AI safety expertise. You’ll have regular sessions with:

• Technical partners who can dive deep into AI architecture and safety mechanisms
• Industry partners from leading AI labs who provide real-world context
• Startup partners who help with growth and operational challenges

Safety Network

Our internal platform connects you to over 3,000 AI safety researchers, engineers, and founders. This network is invaluable for technical collaboration, recruitment, and sharing knowledge about emerging AI risks and solutions.

Impact Assessment

We work with each startup to define and track concrete metrics for both business success and positive impact on AI safety. This helps ensure your growth aligns with meaningful risk reduction.

Weekly Safety Dinners

Every week, we host dinners where founders share progress and insights. These often feature guests from major AI labs and safety research institutions who provide unique perspectives on emerging challenges and opportunities.

Demo Day

The program culminates in Demo Day, where you’ll present to a carefully curated audience of aligned investors and potential partners who understand the critical importance of AI safety. This event has become a key gathering point for the AI assurance ecosystem.

Beyond the Program

Ongoing Support

Technical Advisory

Access to our technical partners continues indefinitely. As AI capabilities advance and new risks emerge, we help you adapt and evolve your solutions.

Community

The Seldon alumni community is becoming a crucial force in the AI safety landscape. Alumni regularly collaborate on research, share early warning signs of new risks, and help each other navigate technical and ethical challenges.

Impact Scaling

We maintain close relationships with major AI labs, enterprises, and regulators, helping our startups deploy their solutions where they can have the greatest positive impact.

Resources

Compute Access

Startups receive significant cloud computing credits and access to our secure testing infrastructure for developing and validating safety solutions.

Safety Research

We maintain partnerships with leading AI safety research institutions, giving our startups early access to new findings and methodologies.

Talent Network

Our talent pipeline connects you with engineers and researchers who have both technical expertise and a strong commitment to AI safety.

The ultimate measure of our success is not just company valuations, but meaningful contributions to making AI systems more robust, aligned, and beneficial for humanity. If you’re building technology to help ensure AI remains safe and controllable as it becomes more capable, we want to work with you.